At the conclusion of a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on April 18, Trump seemed to relish the possibility of accomplishing something with North Korea that eluded past presidents.

“We’ve never been in a position like this with that regime…And I hope to have a very successful meeting,” Trump said of the talks with Kim.

But Trump said he was willing to walk before or during the meeting.

“If I think that it’s a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we’re not going to go. If the meeting when I’m there is not fruitful, I will respectfully leave the meeting and will continue what we’re doing,” Trump said during news conference with Abe.

“The cancellation of this summit reveals the lack of preparation on the part of President Trump in dealing with a totalitarian dictator like Kim Jong Un. We’ve seen similar lack of preparation by the president in dealing with the leaders of China and Russia,” Nelson said.

At Mar-a-Lago in April, Trump and Abe pledged to continue their “maximum pressure” campaign against North Korea until Kim agreed to “complete and verifiable and irreversible” denuclearization.

“We will not repeat the mistakes of previous administrations. Our campaign of maximum pressure will continue until North Korea denuclearizes,” Trump said at the time.

“There is a bright path available to North Korea when it achieves denuclearization in a complete and verifiable and irreversible way. It will be a great day for them. It will be a great day for the world,” Trump said.

Abe also urged caution.

“Just because North Korea is responding to dialogue, there should be no reward. Maximum pressure should be maintained,” he said through a translator.